RERA: Bengaluru builders seek 90-day period for registrations

BENGALURU: The Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) has begun its activity in Bengaluru, and has started accepting registration of projects, agents and complaints.

The birth of the Authority follows the State Government notifying the RERA rules, last month. “The regulatory authority has begun functioning, and the principal secretary is heading it for the time being. The government will soon appoint a regular chairman,” Housing Minister M.Krishnappa told ET. The authority, he said, is clarifying doubts both online and offline, and will help home buyers.

The RERA is functioning out of an office at KHB complex on KG road in Bengaluru, and developers, real estate agents and consumers need to register using the Authority’s website. Since the launch of the portal, many promoters and agents have submitted their registration requests and paid the fee online, the government, RERA officials said at an interaction with the media on Thursday.

The officials also urged developers of ongoing projects as well as those ready for launch to register with the Authority.

JC Sharma, VC & MD, Sobha Developers termed RERA going on stream as “it is better than never.” His own company, Sobha Developers registered one project on Wednesday and many others are in the pipeline. He, however, requested the regulator for a 90-day window from the date of notification of RERA rules for developers and real estate agents to get themselves registered.

“RERA is going to put both fear and pressure among project developers, and make them customer friendly. This will hopefully stop any diversion of funds by developers from the project for which the money is collected,” said Damla Mathew, MD at Damden Properties, a developer of budget homes.

He, however, said he was unsure how this is going to play out in terms of sales. “From demonitisation to GST to RERA have psychologically weakened the spirit of the real estate industry. The timing of RERA, I think, is wrong.”

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Currently, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is levied at 12 per cent on payments made for under-construction property or ready-to-move-in flats where completion certificate has not been issued at the time of sale.